Child Participation

Children have the right to participate in matters affecting their lives and should be enabled to give their opinions, and to have those opinions taken into account. Through participation, children learn self-expression, empowerment and ultimately greater self-esteem.  Children are a diverse group and therefore children of different ages, abilities, backgrounds, races, and both genders should ideally be included in a consultation process.

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Erika Moldow, Virgie M. Anderson, Stephanie LaShay Benjamin, Barbara Patricia Johnson, Elizabeth McGuan, Donna Xenakis, Alexandra Piñeros Shields, Yanfeng Xu,

In this paper the authors reflect on their process and offer lessons learned from engaging in participatory evaluation that may apply to the field of kinship care and across social service delivery more broadly.

Iselin Huseby-Lie,

This global literature review seeks to draw attention to children’s perspectives regarding contact with birth parents when in out-of-home care. By collecting and systematizing existing knowledge on children’s experiences with contact, this article aims to make it more accessible and easily applicable for further investigation.

Carolin Ehlke, Wolfgang Schröer,

This conceptual article describes how, in terms of organization theories, shifts in the chronological transition to adulthood produce “weak” constellations of participation during the process of leaving care. The authors highlight the different degrees of participation by those leaving care and the ways in which it is expressed.

Transforming Children's Care Collaborative,

Drawing from the learning from participatory research in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Australia, this webinar introduced different approaches used to engage individuals with lived experience of alternative care in research efforts.

Family for Every Child,

Family for Every Child's new Participatory Evaluation Toolkit places the knowledge and experience of local Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) at its centre. It offers an alternative to traditional evaluation dynamics, by drawing on the strength of local solutions. 

Family for Every Child,

El nuevo conjunto de herramientas de evaluación participativa de Family for Every Child pone en el centro el conocimiento y la experiencia de las organizaciones de la sociedad civil (OSC) locales. Ofrece una alternativa a las dinámicas de evaluación tradicionales, aprovechando la fuerza de las soluciones locales.

Changing the Way We Care,

This learning brief was developed as part of the CTWWC 2022 annual report and shares learning from Kenya, Guatemala and Moldova. It is intended to help other practitioners understand how to bring meaningful participation of people with lived experience into care reform. By people with lived experience CTWWC considers children and youth, care leavers, parents and other care givers who are experiencing the care system in their context.

Changing the Way We Care, Maestral,

With a focus on 2022-23 themes of transition of care services, development of family-based alternative care, participation of people with lived experience and disability inclusion, this report details several of the significant outcomes and program activities achieved by the work of the CTWWC Maestral team over the last year.

Family for Every Child,

This Family for Every Child podcast episode explores the context for children and young people with care experience in New Zealand.

Heather Taussig, Michelle R. Munson ,

In this U.S.-based study, over 200 pre-adolescent children recently placed into out-of-home care were asked about the difficulty and helpfulness of placement and how their lives might be different had they not been removed. The same participants were interviewed 10 years later.